Conclusion of our three week survey of rhythm & blues before 1950. The records we will be featuring today were issued in 1949. As in the previous two weeks of our survey, the records include hits and misses. For the recording industry, the return to making records meant a return to regular business. As in the case of the previous “Petrillo Ban” of 1942-1944 and the dip in recording activity in the early 1930s, there was a certain amount of turnover in company artist rosters but, in the case of the 1948 strike, which lasted 11 1/2 months, the companies relied first on established artists, whose stockpiled recordings they had been releasing throughout the recording ban. 1949 saw certain trends in the R&B charts–the honking tenor came to the fore and instrumentals were big in the charts; a few gospel recordings, by artists like Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight sold well enough to appear as regional or juke box hits; down home blues by artists like L.C. Williams and Mercy Dee also showed up as national or regional hits. The charts were dominated by records by male artists. Our show will take us part of the way through 1949’s significant artists and recordings. We’ll leave this series for a while and return to it in a few weeks.

We depart from our usual concentration on older music this week. The greater part of our program this week will be devoted to artists scheduled to play at the Hamilton Blues & Roots Festival, to be held in Westdale Village on Saturday, June 1st. A portion of King Street between Sterling and North Oval will be closed to accommodate the festival. Attendance is free. You can go to the festival website for an up-to-date program. We’ll be featuring some of the artists on the blues side of the festival on our May 28th show.

Listen to the program at FM 93.3 in Hamilton or on CFMU online at cfmu.mcmaster.ca. The program will be available to stream or as a podcast until June 25th.

Contact Us

To reach us with comments or queries, write us at sweartotellthetruth@gmail.com.

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Next week (June 4th)

We put together two programs this week. We’ve also planned the music for our 90 minute special on Alan Lomax’ Southern Journey recordings. These recordings from 1959 and 1960 include some iconic performances – some made famous by the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack from the Coen Brothers’ film. It’s humanity’s great fortune that Lomax was ready and able to make these field trips when he did. The recordings and the fascinating story behind their creation on next week’s program.